In Search of Ghandi

In 2007 India celebrated their 60th anniversary as an independent nation. Democracy and freedom were successfully established, but how does the picture look today? This film seeks to paint a portrait of the present and future India in terms of democracy.

In the early decades of the twentieth century Mahatma Gandhi’s legacy of non-violent revolution or Satyagraha inspired a mass movement of millions of Indians to rise up against the British colonial state and successfully agitate for the establishment of a democratic and free India. In 2007, the country is preparing to celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of its existence asan independent nation. But what kind of a democracy does India have today? What does it actually mean to live in the world’s largest democracy? In road-movie style the film crew travels down the famous trail of Gandhi’s salt march, the remarkable mass campaign that galvanized ordinary Indians to join the non-violent struggle for democracy and freedom almost a century ago. Stopping at the same villages and cities, where Gandhi and his followers had raised their call for independence, the film documents the stories of ordinary citizens in India today. Although inspired by a historical event. In Search of Gandhi is not a journey back in time. Instead it is a search for the present and future of democracy in India.

This film is a part of the documentary series Why Democracy? – 10 Films from independent award-winning filmmakers in China, India, Japan, Pakistan, Liberia, Egypt, Denmark, Russia, Bolivia and the USA.